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Let the dirt ventures begin!


TeabagInsurance

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Had my T7 for just over a week and only managed to get it out for some dirt riding today after work.

 

I've ridden both street bikes and dirt bikes for 5-6 years ago, so I'm no pro, but fairly comfortable off road. Well I've never ridden dirt on an ADV bike before, nor have I ridden dirt at all this year (sold the dirt bike), so in my exploration today I bit off more that I could chew and made the mistake of venturing down a single track trail that I had yet to explore. Slippery conditions, a narrow and steep climb at the end, stock tires, and my shitty decision making made for a bad time:

 

 

You'll have to ignore me stalling the bike a million times. I just installed new clutch levers and have been trying to adjust them to a point that I am comfortable with on road and off road. Surprisingly, I did not drop the bike once. Once I got out, I continued riding, but unfortunately the sunset view I was looking for at the top was spoiled by rain clouds:

 

194392963_223661099597523_1689611775696031505_n.thumb.jpg.7046b2b83eee2999d776b83d9cf3c655.jpg

 

Furthermore, I was lazy and did not actually strap in my magnetic tail bag, so I lost it somewhere in the trails. The worst thing is it had my beer (and my water, but meh). I did a bit of a loop and went back along part of the track looking for my tail bag, but could not find it. I'm going to head out again this week to see if I can find it.

 

I thought the funny part was me getting stuck, so I just uploaded that. I'm too lazy to crop stuff and do proper video editing for the rest of the ride. A couple technical sections with moderate climbs, but nothing super crazy. Definitely put the stock tires to the test. I agree that they don't have the most traction in the slippery stuff, but most of the ride today was pretty greasy, so I'll have to compare on a dryer, nicer day.

 

I suppose I'll dump some more clips in this thread going forward if anyone actually cares to watch an average rider trying to push his limits as an amateur ADV rider. And if not... well then feel free to skip through!

Edited by TeabagInsurance
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  • 2 weeks later...

Testing the bike's my limits with brake slides today. Oops.
 

 

Pretty sure I just shifted too much of my weight to the inside. Pannier rack makes it quite a bit easier to pick up!

Edited by TeabagInsurance
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Gravel is like marbles, less steering input as the back will come around a lot faster. Try doing your slides on normal dirt or sand first.  The tenere(like the 690r and I'm sure every other adv bike) has less then adequate turning radius built into the steering. I shaved off maybe a mm from both sides of the steering stop to get another 10 maybe 15 degrees of steering(each way). Bars almost touch the tank and screen wheen at full lock. Had to shave the cap off of one of the headlight mount nuts too. Keep having fun offroad 🍻

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3 hours ago, Canadian-t7 said:

Gravel is like marbles, less steering input as the back will come around a lot faster. Try doing your slides on normal dirt or sand first.  The tenere(like the 690r and I'm sure every other adv bike) has less then adequate turning radius built into the steering. I shaved off maybe a mm from both sides of the steering stop to get another 10 maybe 15 degrees of steering(each way). Bars almost touch the tank and screen wheen at full lock. Had to shave the cap off of one of the headlight mount nuts too. Keep having fun offroad 🍻

Good call on noting the riding surface. I had actually been practising slides primarily on more hard packed surfaces recently, so I think I got accustomed to the amount of pressure required to lock up the rear with that. Definitely was too aggressive here and did not adjust accordingly!

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Also remember the t7 weighs twice as much as a dirtbike, so that's a lot more momentum. You got this! 

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2 hours ago, TeabagInsurance said:

Good call on noting the riding surface. I had actually been practising slides primarily on more hard packed surfaces recently, so I think I got accustomed to the amount of pressure required to lock up the rear with that. Definitely was too aggressive here and did not adjust accordingly!

Go find some grass that nobody will mind you tearing up. Easier to land on when you fall down, and you can do what you are trying to do at MUCH lower speeds until you get the hang of it. Then move up to gravel, etc.

 

Once you've nailed the slide/slide steering, you can progress to power slides and get a good feel for that too. Be careful with the stock Pirelli's though, it's likely they will not be very forgiving in letting go, unlike a traditional knobby.

 

ALL my kids have to learn how to slide both in braking and power with an XR80 on wet grass first, before going any further. Safe and slippery and if you touch the front brake you are down. They learn really quickly.

 

Good luck!

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I think I have Yamaha disease...

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If anyone is interested in seeing what the T7 is capable of for hill climbs with stock tires...

 

 

Obligatory "it's steeper than the video makes it out to be". Looking at the of the trees in relation to the hill provides a bit better perspective. Also, that's easily the longest F^*@#%^! hill climb I've ever done in my life.

Edited by TeabagInsurance
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And the descent:

 


Downhill is arguably sketchier given the drop-off one the one side.

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This thing will take you some amazing places.

 

IMG_2656.thumb.jpg.c62933ca12cafa6bd10e9389779cac56.jpgIMG_2655.thumb.jpg.2c642b8d3203983706958ef3a08ac401.jpgIMG_2651.thumb.jpg.758c4b79d953d841ba9b4673635abbee.jpgIMG_2645.thumb.jpg.c0f1155902989885297147142f25a114.jpgIMG_2642.thumb.jpg.a67758b3dac81ed94e3c432a21465fac.jpgIMG_2641.thumb.jpg.c6c22301bf2d5eb0b71fe63203311d04.jpgIMG_2640.thumb.jpg.0269ef54e8af4e36970aa3ff432e6895.jpgIMG_2639.thumb.jpg.da46ffd06aa95dd1c2d6c397cd2bf435.jpgIMG_2635.thumb.jpg.c40539c45a9493ff6d8b9332c531e687.jpgIMG_2633.thumb.jpg.823f8ae2e737ee03d018eb48d4e3ff38.jpgIMG_2632.thumb.jpg.00bc22a6e5b1eb77a29ef90165825f4d.jpgIMG_2628.thumb.jpg.86143bcf1a04b48b8c35c02a630c8141.jpgIMG_2627.thumb.jpg.bbf7339d1c4c92037edf5fd468d21081.jpgIMG_2625.thumb.jpg.e2579a353b7f5d4e738111ce559feb64.jpgIMG_2657.thumb.jpg.e104e09c707a93c27aee35dbbe5b8a72.jpg

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On 6/15/2021 at 11:11 AM, TeabagInsurance said:

Had my T7 for just over a week and only managed to get it out for some dirt riding today after work.

 

I've ridden both street bikes and dirt bikes for 5-6 years ago, so I'm no pro, but fairly comfortable off road. Well I've never ridden dirt on an ADV bike before, nor have I ridden dirt at all this year (sold the dirt bike), so in my exploration today I bit off more that I could chew and made the mistake of venturing down a single track trail that I had yet to explore. Slippery conditions, a narrow and steep climb at the end, stock tires, and my shitty decision making made for a bad time:

 

 

You'll have to ignore me stalling the bike a million times. I just installed new clutch levers and have been trying to adjust them to a point that I am comfortable with on road and off road. Surprisingly, I did not drop the bike once. Once I got out, I continued riding, but unfortunately the sunset view I was looking for at the top was spoiled by rain clouds:

 

194392963_223661099597523_1689611775696031505_n.thumb.jpg.7046b2b83eee2999d776b83d9cf3c655.jpg

 

Furthermore, I was lazy and did not actually strap in my magnetic tail bag, so I lost it somewhere in the trails. The worst thing is it had my beer (and my water, but meh). I did a bit of a loop and went back along part of the track looking for my tail bag, but could not find it. I'm going to head out again this week to see if I can find it.

 

I thought the funny part was me getting stuck, so I just uploaded that. I'm too lazy to crop stuff and do proper video editing for the rest of the ride. A couple technical sections with moderate climbs, but nothing super crazy. Definitely put the stock tires to the test. I agree that they don't have the most traction in the slippery stuff, but most of the ride today was pretty greasy, so I'll have to compare on a dryer, nicer day.

 

I suppose I'll dump some more clips in this thread going forward if anyone actually cares to watch an average rider trying to push his limits as an amateur ADV rider. And if not... well then feel free to skip through!

Amazing and good work.

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